Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich sits down with Miguel Stilwell d’Andrade, CEO of EDP, one of the world’s leading clean energy companies.
From the front lines of the energy transition, Miguel explains why electricity demand in the United States is exploding, driven by AI, data centres, and re-industrialisation, and why this could make renewables one of the most attractive investments of the decade. He also shares how EDP transformed itself from an 80% coal-based utility into a company generating over 90% of its electricity from renewables.
But the transition hasn’t been entirely smooth. Miguel recounts the dramatic moment when Spain’s grid collapsed, taking Portugal down with it, and what it taught him about resilience, grid stability, and the hidden challenges of running a modern clean power system.
They also dive into:
Why soaring power demand is changing energy economics
The real story behind renewable costs and rising electricity prices
The link between European competitiveness and energy independence
The political and economic reality of investing in US clean energy
Why resilience may define the next phase of the transition
This episode was recorded prior to the recent storms in Portugal. For more information on how EDP is responding to the storms, and what to do if you are affected by them, please visit: www.edp.com
Leadership Circle:
Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.
Links and more:
EDP website: https://edp.com/en
The £60 Billion Plan To Rewire Britain | Ep227: John Pettigrew https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Lg1A958aA
The Enormous Ambition Of Germany’s New Grid Build Out | Ep233: Tim Meyerjürgens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQgUuJ-dx78
The $60 Billion Plan For Europe’s Largest AI Data Centre | Ep235: Robert Dunn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juAyLAUmU3w
The Price of Resilience - Ep8: Roger Dennis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CELQT31riDE

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich sits down with carbon removal insider Robert Höglund, CEO of Marginal Carbon, co-founder of CDR.fyi and architect of MilkyWire’s Climate Transformation Fund, for a deep dive into what’s working and what’s not in carbon dioxide removal and corporate climate action.
Drawing on five years of hands-on experimentation funding everything from biochar to direct air capture and policy advocacy, Höglund challenges the dominant “speed and scale” narrative. Instead, he makes the case for a new phase: prove and learn. 
Together, Michael and Robert unpack why the highest-impact climate interventions are often the least measurable, why corporate net-zero targets are more conditional than we admit, and what it will actually take to make carbon removal credible, scalable, and worth paying for.
Leadership Circle:
Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.
Links and more: 
Marginal Carbon: Marginal Carbon
CDR.fyi: https://www.cdr.fyi/
MilkyWire Climate Transformation Fund: https://milkywire.com/
Carbon Gap: https://carbongap.org/
Julio Friedmann on Cleaning Up: https://youtu.be/DX7k6qnTxE8

What if the future of clean energy isn’t decided in Washington, Brussels, or Beijing, but in Lagos, Nairobi, and Addis Ababa? Are we underestimating how fast the Global South is leapfrogging fossil fuels? And what happens when clean energy becomes the cheapest, fastest path to development, not a climate sacrifice?
In this episode of Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich is joined for a third time by Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and UN Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN Energy. Together, they explore how Africa and the wider Global South are quietly reshaping the global energy transition, from rapid growth in solar, storage, mini-grids, and EVs to bold policy moves that many developed economies haven’t dared to make.
They dive into why energy access is about dignity, health, and gender equality; why finance, not technology, is the real bottleneck; and how local capital, data, and innovation could determine whether “Most of World” powers its future with clean energy or fossil fuels.
Leadership Circle:
Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.
Links and more:
Sustainable Energy For All: https://www.seforall.org
Damilola’s past appearances on Cleaning Up:https://youtu.be/TbN1Y1C0ido
https://youtu.be/VcpNOmm1pMw

Ban Ki-moon on Cleaning Up: https://youtu.be/B14_MeRhfBw
The Sierra Leone Documentary: https://youtu.be/z-5QjSfy2SM
Clemens Calice on Cleaning Up: https://youtu.be/urmP7zN6n04
Alain Ebobissé on Cleaning Up: https://youtu.be/ISTvp0BQz3E

How do we model the climate system? How warm will 2026 be? And can geoengineering be anything more than a bandaid? 

This week on Cleaning Up, Bryony Worthington sits down with leading climate scientist Dr. Zeke Hausfather on the day the 2025 global temperature data is released. Despite a La Niña year, the planet has just experienced one of its hottest years on record — pushing us ever closer to the 1.5°C threshold.

Zeke explains why recent warming has accelerated, how declining air pollution may be unmasking hidden heating, and what disappearing cloud cover could mean for climate sensitivity. 

The conversation ranges from the surprising accuracy of early climate models, the risks of rising nationalism, and what the U.S. withdrawal from international science means for the world. 

They also tackle controversial questions:  Are worst-case climate scenarios still plausible? Is geoengineering a dangerous distraction — or an emergency brake? And can carbon removals ever work economically at scale.

Leadership Circle:

Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.

Discover more:

Zeke’s articles in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/by/zeke-hausfather

Zeke on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zeke-hausfather-7327699/

Zeke’s Blog on Substack: https://www.theclimatebrink.com/p/my-2026-and-2027-global-temperature

Why does Africa, home to 18% of the world’s population, receive just 1% of global energy investment? What’s stopping money from flowing to the continent when it has such good wind and solar potential? And what would it take to unlock an energy boom that benefits both Africa and Europe?
Spread across 54 countries and with a combined GDP the size of Italy, Africa's population is young and growing rapidly. It is set to grow from 1.5 billion people today to 2.5 billion by 2050. And it could reach 4 billion by 2100, accounting for two out of every five people on the planet.  Africans want and deserve the same prosperity shared by richer parts of the world. And that means investment. So why is investment not flowing? 
This week on Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich speaks with Clemens Calice, CEO and founder of Cygnum Capital, which invests around $1.3 billion in Africa’s energy transition. Together they explore why risk perception and outdated models are slowing investment across Africa. 
From rooftop solar for factories and mines, to electric motorbikes, power pools, and the geopolitics of gas, this episode makes the pragmatic case for how Africa can leapfrog to a cleaner, more resilient energy future.
Leadership Circle:
Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Cygnum Capital, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.
Discover more:
Cygnum Capital: https://www.cygnumcapital.com
Episode 196, Lucy Heintz of Actis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhGDI_0QIHg
Episode 216, Daniel Calderon of Alcazar Energy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMhFOWO4C84
Episode 120, Ana Hajduka, founder of Africa Green Co.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktWh_G6Sw_g